Prince Mihail Sturdza (24 April 1794 – 8 May 1884), sometimes

anglicized Anglicisation or anglicization is a form of cultural assimilation whereby something non-English becomes assimilated into or influenced by the culture of England. It can be sociocultural, in which a non-English place adopts the English language ...

as Michael Stourdza, was prince ruler of

Moldavia Moldavia (, or ; in Romanian Cyrillic alphabet, Romanian Cyrillic: or ) is a historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester River. An initially in ...

from 1834 to 1849. He was cousin of Princess Roxandra Sturdza and Prince Alexandru Sturdza.

Early life

He was born as third child and the only son of Grigore Sturdza, Lord of Cozmești, Grand Logothete (1758-1833) and his wife, Princess Maria Callimachi (1762-1822), daughter of Gregory Callimachi, reigning

Prince of Moldavia This is a list of monarchs of Moldavia, from the first mention of the medieval polity east of the Carpathians and until its disestablishment in 1862, when it united with Wallachia, the other Danubian Principality, to form the modern-day state of ...

Biography

A man of liberal education, he established in

Iași Iași ( , , ; also known by other #Etymology and names, alternative names), also referred to mostly historically as Jassy ( , ), is the Cities in Romania, third largest city in Romania and the seat of Iași County. Located in the historical ...

, the Academia Mihăileană, the first University in Romania, a institution of higher education, and the precursor of the

University of Iași The Alexandru Ioan Cuza University (; acronym: UAIC) is a public university located in , Romania. Founded by an 1860 decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza, under whom the former was converted to a university, the University of , as it was named ...

. He brought scholars from foreign countries to act as teachers, and gave a very powerful stimulus to the educational development of the country. In 1844 he decreed the emancipation of the

Gypsies {{Infobox ethnic group , group = Romani people , image = , image_caption = , flag = Roma flag.svg , flag_caption = Romani flag created in 1933 and accepted at the 1971 World Romani Congress , ...

, which until then had been treated as slaves and owned by the Church or by private landowners; they had been bought and sold in the open market. Mihail also attempted the secularization of monastic establishments, which was carried out by Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza in 1864, and the utilization of their endowments for national purposes. Mihail quelled the attempted

Moldavian Revolution of 1848 The Moldavian Revolution of 1848 is the name used for the unsuccessful Romanian liberal and Romantic nationalist movement inspired by the Revolutions of 1848 in the principality of Moldavia. Initially seeking accommodation within the political ...

without bloodshed by arresting all the few conspirators and expelling them from the country. Mihail's first wife was Elena Rosetti. His second wife was Princess Smaragda Vogoride, daughter of Stefan Vogoride,

Prince of Samos The Principality of Samos (, ; ; ) was an autonomous tributary state of the Ottoman Empire from 1834 to 1912. The island of Samos had participated in the Greek War of Independence since 1821 and successfully resisted several Turkish and Egyptian a ...

. He vacationed with his family annually at

Baden Baden (; ) is a historical territory in southern Germany. In earlier times it was considered to be on both sides of the Upper Rhine, but since the Napoleonic Wars, it has been considered only East of the Rhine. History The margraves of Ba ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. When his and Vogoride's 16-year-old son was killed in Paris in 1863, he erected a Greek Orthodox church in Michaelsberg (Baden-Baden) to serve as his crypt..

Gallery

File:Stamp of Moldova md630.jpg, Commemorative stamp File:Fürst Michael Stourzda - panoramio.jpg, Bust of Mihail Sturdza in Baden-Baden File:Princely Court of Jassy.jpg, The Princely Court of Moldavia during the first half of the 19th century

Notes

References

* Nobility from Iași Monarchs of Moldavia Mihail 1795 births 1884 deaths 19th-century Moldavian people {{europe-royal-stub

Early life

Biography

Gallery

See also

Notes

References